India high on terror hitlist, but lacks intelligence and investigation capabilities

New Delhi: The twin blasts in Hyderabad, which killed 16 people and injured 117 others on Thursday evening, has once again pointed to the need for better and quick action on intelligence and coordination between Central and states' agencies. But in addition to this, the attack in the Andhra Pradesh capital has also pointed to the void in the investigations into previous such cases.

On November 23, 2007, serial blasts had rocked the state of Uttar Pradesh. The blasts were carried out in the court compounds of Lucknow, Varanasi and Faizabad, killing a total of 18 people and injuring over 80 others. The terror outfit that was suspected by be behind the blast was Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI).

As far as the investigation into the blasts is concerned, even more than five years after the incident, only two accused have been chargesheeted by the police while the trial is still underway. And what's more troubling is that the mastermind of the blast has still not been arrested.

Even worse is the status of the investigation into the Jaipur serial blasts of May 13, 2008, when a series of eight explosions had rocked the Rajasthan capital, killing at least 60 people and injuring over 150 others.

The terror groups suspected to be behind the serial blasts are Indian Mujahideen and SIMI. The police did manage to arrest 14 people in connection with the case, but in 2011, 11 of them were acquitted by the court. There has been little headway in the case since then.

The status of the investigation into the Ahmedabad serial blasts, which were carried out on July 26, 2008, is still better. There were a series of 21 blasts within a span of 70 minutes and claimed 29 lives, and injured over 100 people.

Indian Mujahideen was suspected to have carried out the attack. Acting in the case, the Gujarat Police arrested over 60 people, including one of the masterminds, Mufti Sufiyan. However, another mastermind of the attack, Abdul Subhan Tauqeer, is still absconding.

The same year, Delhi was also hit by serial blasts on September 13, killing 20 people and injuring 100 other. Even this attack was suspected to have been carried out by the Indian Mujahideen.

While two alleged operatives of the Indian Mujahideen, believed to be involved in the attack, were killed in an encounter in the national capital, charges have been framed against 13 others. However, attack mastermind Abdul Subhan Tauqeer, who is also wanted in the Ahmedabad serial blasts, is still absconding.

Indian Mujahideen is also suspected to have carried out the blast at German Bakery in Pune on February 13, 2010, which killed 17 people and injured over 50 others. Though the police have arrested two people in connection with the blast, they are yet to even trace the mastermind.

The mastermind behind the Mumbai serial blasts of July 13, 2011, has also not been traced by the police so far. The blast had killed 17 people and injured more than 131 others. As many as five people have been arrested so far.